Reader's Digest of the Last Week and a Half

The remainder of the road trip went relatively smoothly. We arrived in Orange rumpled and rather tired on Monday the 11th. From there, Mom, Daddy and I spent four days driving all over creation accumulating all and sundry things needed to furnish my apartment and my life. Luckily a bed was acquired on day one, meaning no hotel was needed for the duration of the parents' stay. All three of us in the apartment was made slightly more difficult by the fact that I forgot to call the gas company before arriving, meaning we had cold showers and no stove all week. The stove proved not to be a problem as we did not get a refrigerator until Thursday, but hot showers would definitely have been nice! (In fact, when the gas man finally came on Saturday, he noticed my focus on the shower and laughed when I told him I was tired of cold water! He also complimented my taste in art and asked for descriptions and reviews of both the Twilight and Harry Potter series. Altogether not an uninteresting utilities visit!) Internet and TV were also put off until Thursday due to the fact that new wiring had to be put in. (This experience again made that much better by the AT&T phone representative who thought I was absolutely nuts when I told her my follow up appointment could not wait until the date they had scheduled it. Which was the 13th. I was talking to her at 5:15 pm on the 12th. In my defense, I did think she said the 30th. But we cleared up the misunderstanding and the, again extremely nice, AT&T guy got me all set up!)

Walmart, Ikea, Best Buy, Big Lots, Kmart, Home Depot, Target and Ralph's were all raided to supply my TV, desk set, dresser, kitchen table and chairs, hangers, shoe rack and enough food to last me a good long while. Furniture was built, pictures hung, laundry and dishes washed and much organizing and arranging accomplished. (Much of this with the expectation that it will be moved upon Theresa's arrival this Friday when we can decide together where we would like to keep things.)

Thursday night we went to Huntington Beach for a farewell dinner with the parents. We had lovely Hawaiian plate dinners at a Tiki bar and walked around the touristy strip for a bit in the surprisingly brisk evening air. Afterwards we drove past the many beaches, but unfortunately were unable to stop as they were being closed up for the night. Just one more reason Mom and Daddy will have to come back to visit!

Friday morning was the early trip to John Wayne Airport and the hard goodbye. As much as I am excited to start all things new out here, I was sad to see them go.

Friday was also my final meeting with a director for the fall Cycle film. After a three hour meeting (Matt and I get along very well and found we had a lot to talk about) and much deliberation, I decided that this was the film for me. It is a bit simpler script than some that I had read, which may be good as I have much to learn, but I like the direction it is going and think it will turn out very well. Since Friday, Matt and I have met twice more to start setting down a schedule and tonight I also met the Cinematographer and Set Designer. During one of our meetings I met quite a few of the other film students, too, and everyone has been very nice.

(As an interlude, a good portion of my week has also been spent at the DMV. I got my California Driver's License when I was here in June, but I still needed to register my car. This involved a two hour stint at the Whittier DMV yesterday where I filled out stacks of paperwork, had my car inspected and waited and waited and waited. What all of the people I had spoken to previously had somehow forgotten to tell me was that I was also required to get my car smog checked. So today I drove Oliver to the Jeep dealership for his 12,000 mile checkup and smog test and on to the Santa Ana DMV where I spent a considerably shorter amount of time waiting and walked away with California registration, plates and stickers. One more thing off the list.)

As far as things yet to come go, tomorrow night a group of incoming first year graduate students are meeting for drinks and I think I will stop in to meet them. At least one more meeting is in my future in the next two days as I will be starting to make phone calls to Studio Teachers (the tutors needed on a film set whenever there is a child actor) and taxidermists (to find a dog...more on that later) tomorrow and beginning location scouting as early as this weekend. Next week we will take a break from the Cycle film as the Director and Cinematographer are working on another student's shoot and the Set Designer and I will be in Orientation. I am definitely looking forward to that as I think it will jump-start everything I am able to do on my project and I am eager to meet my classmates and get to work.

Well, I think I have been long-winded enough for tonight and the tappity-tap-tap of the keyboard is beginning to stave off my excitement-induced insomnia for the time being. So off I go to dreamland, where I will hopefully come up with a way to make my introduction video better than it is setting up to be right now! Goodnight to all, sweet dreams and much love!